Fructose Tied to Obesity as Study Shows It Doesn’t Cut Appetite

Share via e-mail

NEW YORK — Fructose, a sweetener found on many food labels, may contribute to weight gain and obesity because it has minimal effect on brain regions that control appetite, a study by Yale University researchers found.

The research, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first to compare the human brain’s response to both fructose and glucose, two types of simple sugars used separately and together to sweeten food.

Researchers have long suspected that increased consumption of food flavored with fructose, a substance sweeter to the taste than glucose, may contribute to the US obesity epidemic. The latest study used brain imaging to measure activity after the sweeteners were consumed. It found that only glucose had the ability to reduce blood flow in areas of the brain that regulate appetite, stopping people from wanting to eat more.

The data ‘‘surely suggest that it’s probably not in your best interest to have high fructose-containing drinks because they’re not going to cause you to be full, and you’ll tend to consume more calories,’’ said Robert Sherwin, of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

The brain requires glucose as a fuel, he said. When there is not enough in the body, it turns on cells to get a person to eat more. Once glucose levels rise, the brain turns those cells off. The study found fructose doesn’t have the ability to operate that off switch, he said.

Better understanding of how certain foods and obesity affect the brain and body is key, researchers have said, at a time when the number of obese adults has more than doubled in the past 30 years to about 78 million.

Glucose, the main type of sugar in the blood, is the top source of energy for the body’s cells. It comes from fruits, vegetables, and other foods we eat, such as starches that the body breaks down into glucose.